Filling and vent valve



Aug. 30, 1949. c BERG T AL FILLING AND VENT VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet} FiledMay 15, 1947 Aug. 30, 1949. c. BERG ETAL 2,480,437.

FILLING VA'NDVENT VALVE v Filed May 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 iwliiryMazzzzs aT WSI Patented Aug. 30, 1949 hampton, Mass assignors to NickelCadmium Battery Corporation, Easth'anipton, Mass, a

corporation of Delaware Application May 15, 1947,, serial No. 748,275

4 Claims.

This invention relates to gas vent valves for storage batteries and,more particularly, to vent valves of the kind that also serve as fillingplug through which electrolyte or water can be introduced.

Objects of the inventionare to provide a filling plug with a vent valvewhich will permit the escape of gas generated within the cells of thebattery through the plug, but which will prevent escape of gas-entrainedliquid electrolyte by separating it from the gas and returning it to thecell; to provide such a plug which permits convenient filling as well assecure closing of the battery, and to provide a plug which isinexpensive to manufacture, and which is especially adaptable to theconstruction of alkaline batteries.

In one of its main aspects, the invention resides in employing a gasventing, fluid rejecting valve which is characterized by being dividedinto two members which fit each other and the valve seat loosely andprovide a multiple gas venting path in a manner such as to break gasbubbles and drain the electrolyte back into the cell better than theconventional solid button valves.

In another aspect of the invention, a storage battery cell having afilling plug in its top wall which has an opening through it and a valveseat therein is combined with a valve cooperable with the seat andcomprising a hemispherically dished lower disk adapted to rest on theseat and having radial apertures in its curved surface, and a fiat upperdisk resting on the rim of the lower disk, the upper and lower disksthereby forming a hollow valve chamber into which gas and gasentrainedliquid may pass through the apertures and in which the liquid isentrapped, separated by surface contact with the inner walls of plug andchamber and returned by gravity to the cell. The upper disk of the valvehas a central aperture which loosely fits a guiding stem attached to thelower disk to hold the valve centered with respect to its seat but freeto seat itself by gravity. The radial apertures in the hemisphericalsurface of the lower disk may be pear-shaped, radially of and with theirbroader ends towards the center of the lower disk. The upper disk mayhave an annular shoulder adjacent the concave surface of the lower diskbelow its rim for establishing a narrow annular gate; this shoulder ispreferably formed by a semi-toroidal flange fitting with its concaveside the rim of the lower disk for ,estab} lishing a line of contactbetween the upper and lower disks and a repelling surface opposite thevalve seat proper. The valve may be supported and guided by a stemconnected to it and to a plug. When tilted on a hinge for opening theplug, the cover withdraws the valve from its seat to an out-of-the-wayposition which permits filling of the cell. a I v A practical embodimentillustrating these and other aspects or features of the invention willnow be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which I Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a fragmentary portion of thetop of a battery cell illustrating the vent valve in the top wallthereof between the battery terminals;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of our improved vent valve p u Fig. 3 is anelevation of the plug;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on of Fig. 3; I a

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 o fFig. 2', looking fromthe front side thereof; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view from the top side of the hemispherical portion ofthe valve member.

Fig. 1 shows how a filling and vent plug I4 constructed in accordancewith this invention is mounted in the upper wall of a cell in of astorage battery. between the usual terminals l2.

theline 4-4 The filling and vent plug M, as illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5,comprises a hollow cylindrical neck It of relatively small diameterhaving at its lower end an apron [8 by which it is welded or otherwisesecured in an aperture, not shown, formed in the top wall of a batterycell. The upper end of the neck it has extending laterally therefrom ahorizontal shoulder 20 from which rises a vertical wall 22 forming acylindrical chamber 23 at the upper end of the neck, of sufiicient sizeto provide a convenient funnel for introducing electrolyte or water tothe cell without spilling it. A lid or cover 24 having downturnedflanges at its peripheral edge is shaped to sit on the upper edge 25 ofthe chamber 23 to close the same and is yieldably held thereagainst aswill hereinafter appear.

At the upper end of the neck IS the junction between it and the lateralhorizontally extending shoulder zll provides an annular rounded edge 26which constitutes a valve seat.

For engagement with the seat 26 there is provided in accordance withthis invention a valve membervor body 28 comprised of lower and uppervalve plates ordisks30 and 32 hereinafter referred to as disks. Thelower disk 3!! is hemispherical in shape, that is, substantially bowlshaped, and of such diameter that when resting on the seat 26 its upperedge or run 34 projects upwardly beyond the valve seat. In thishemispherical disk or bowl 30 are formed radially extending pearshapedapertures 36 not extending beyond the line of contact 26 between thedisk 30 and the shoulder and a central aperture 38 the purpose of whichwill appear hereinafter. The upper disk 32 is substantially fiat andcircular in form but has an annular shoulder 40 of somewhat smallerdiameter than the diameter of the hemispherical disk at its rim 34 sothat the disk 32 sets into the upper portion of the hemispherical disk30, with the shoulder spaced from the inner concave surface thereof andbelow the rim. Rising upwardly from the shoulder 40 of the upper disk 32and extending laterally therefrom is an annular concavo-convex or hollowsemi-toroidal flange 42 which is of a somewhat larger diameter than therim of the bottom disk 30 so that it overlies the rim 34 and contactsthe same, thereby establishing a line of contact between the disks 30 i;

The upper disk 32 has a central aperwhich is supported and guided by avalve stem 46 so that it is centered with respect to the valve seat. Tothis end that portion of the valve stem 46 which passes through theupper disk 32 is of somewhat smaller diameter than the aperture 44 sothat there is an annular space 45 provided between the periphery of theaperture 44 and the stem 45, allowing the disk 32 to move on valve stem46. The lower end of the valve stem is reduced in diameter and is firmlyriveted into the aperture 38; a head 48 formed integral with the lowerend of the valve stem 46 and of larger diameter than the aperture 38retaining the disk 30 on the stem. The valve member 28 is thus free torotate on the stem 46 to tilt somewhat with respect thereto, and to movean appreciable amount longitudinally thereof.

The upper end of the valve stem 46 is threaded at and the stem is passedthrough a correspondingly threaded portion 52 of a depending sleeve 54having a flange 56 at its upper end by which it is riveted or otherwisefastened at 58 to the under side of the cover 24. Hence, with thethreads wholly disengaged, the stem 45 is free to move longitudinally inthe sleeve 54 and to rotate freely therein, but is retained in thesleeve when the cover 24 is tilted back owing to its threaded portionbeing unable to pass the threaded portion of sleeve 54.

The cover 24 is mounted so that it may be tilted upwardly and backwardlyfrom the mouth of the chamber 23 to permit filling the battery withelectrolyte or water, the swinging back of the cover 24 simultaneouslywithdrawing the valve 28 from its seat to an out-of-the-way position. Tothis end there is formed integral with the cover 24 and extendinglaterally and downwardly therefrom at one side a tailpiece 50 (Fig. 2)having spaced parallel walls 62 (Fig. 3) through which are formedaligned apertures 54. Welded to the vertical wall 22 of the chamber 23by means of tabs 53 formed integral therewith is a substantiallyrectangular bearing bracket 56 which embraces the tailpiece and hasaligned apertures 68 formed in its opposite walls which are in alignmentwith the apertures 64. Through the aligned apertures 68 goes a pintle65, joining the cover to the bracket 66 that it may be tilted about thepintle, a finger hold 1B being provided for that purpose. In order toretain the cover 24 against the upper edge 25 of the chamber andpositively to hold it in either a closed or open position, the bearingbracket 65 has downwardly projecting spaced wall portions 12 (Fig. 3)having formed integral with their inner surfaces inwardly extendingledges 14. The ledges 14 are adapted to receive and support spacedtongue-like projections T6 formed at one end of a U-shaped spring 18,the opposite end of which is provided with spaced bearing sleeves Bl!which receive a pin 82 the ends of which are set into apertures in thespaced walls 62 of the tailpiece 80. As illustrated, the axis of the pin82 is oiiset in the tailpiece rearwardly with respect to the axis of thepintle 65 so that when the cover is in a closed position the spring actsby reason of its offset position to bias the cover to a closed position.When the cover is open, however, the tailpiece moves about the pintle 65in a clockwise direction, as illustrated in Fig. 3, to a position on theopposite side thereof and offset forwardly with respect thereto so thatthe cover in this position is biased to an open position. Four smallholes 2! are drilled in the vertical wall 22 near the rim thereof topermit escape of the evolved gas to the atmosphere.

If the battery is jolted or otherwise moved around so as to causeslopping of the electrolyte in the individual cells, or if there is alarge amount of gas generated within the cells which tends to entrain inbubbles of liquid electrolyte, the gas or gas-entrained liquid isdivided so that part of it is turned back by the line of contact betweenthe lower disk 3!) and the valve seat 26 and part is permitted to enterthe valve chamber through th pear-shaped apertures 36 in the lower diskwhich act as a bafile retarding in some degree the egress of the liquidso that it is turned back. By reason of the seal between the upper andlower disks 32 and 36 of the valve, the inclined surface of the lowerdisk and the tight fit at 44, 45, the electrolyte will be prevented fromseeping out from between the valve disks at their lines of contact. Atthe lines of comparatively tight contact, namely 26, 34 and 45, thefiuid will be separated from the gas and drain back through and alongthe aperture 36 into the cell. Since the central aperture 44 in theupper disk 32 is offset with respect to the apertures 36, the gas canescape through this opening with a minimum of danger that the liquidwill follow it. The liquid-free gas may then escape through the holes 2!formed in the wall 22.

By reason of the loose attachment of the valve disk 32 to the valve stem46, and the loose fit of the latter in the sleeve 54, these disks canfind their own fit in the seat in relation to each other by gravity andthe valve 28 is permitted freely to find a seat on the upper edge of theneck l6. Hence there is less chance of improper seating of the valveelements with respect to the seat and on each other.

Pear-shaped apertures 36 with the wider ends near aperture 38, as shownin Fig. 6, were found to be particularly suitable for the purpose ofpassing gases while permitting drainage of fluid back into the cellwithout permitting fluid to accumulate in the chamber 23.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A gas vent valve for a battery of the type wherein a filling plughaving an opening with an annular valve seat carries a valve on theseat-said valve comprising a dished lower valve disk havingapproximately radial apertures therein, a fiat upper valve disk restingon the rim of said lower disk, said upper disk having a central aperturetherein and forming a chamber into which gas and gas-entrained liquidmay pass through the radial apertures of the lower disk and in which theliquid is entrapped, separated from gas at the rim and the inner wallsof the chamber and returned through the apertures, and a guiding stem tohold the disks approximately aligned but free to seat themselves, saidguide stem being fastened at its upper end to the plug passing looselythrough the central aperture of the upper disk and having fixed to itslower end the lower disk.

2. A gas vent valve for a battery of the type wherein a filling plughaving an opening with an annular valve seat carries a valve on theseat-said valve comprising an upwardly concave,

and the upper ends of said apertures an upper valve disk resting on saidrim, said upper and lower disks forming a chamber into which gas andgas-entrained liquid may pass through said apertures and wherein theliquid is entrapped, separated from gas Within the chamber and returnedthrough the aperture, and a guide fastened to the plug and attached tosaid disks to hold them approximately centered but free to seatthemselves.

3. A battery filling and venting device having a hollow plug forming avalve seat and supporting a lid which carries a valve guiding stemextending from the closed lid into the plug and on the stem a valvebody, said valve body comprising a valve bowl attached to the lower endof said stem for contacting said seat along a line below its rim andhaving drainage openings below said contact line, and a valve disksurrounding said stem and extending over and contacting said rim with anedge portion concavely drawn below the rim, part of the liquid and gasrising through said conduit entering through said openings into thespace between said bowl and said disk and another part encountering saidcontact line and said edge portion, the fluid being rejected andseparated from the gas at the circumferential lines of contact betweensaid seat and the outside surface of said bowl below its rim as well asbetween the rim of said bowl and said disk.

4. A battery filling and venting device comprising a hollow plug havingan outer funnel portion, a narrower conduit portion and a valve seattherebetween, a lid which is hinged to said plug and carries a valveguiding stem loosely sliding on said lid substantially normally thereto,and a valve body attached to said stem for contacting said seat with thelid closed but clearing the funnel portion when the lid is opened, saidvalve body including a valve bowl attached to the lower end of said stemand having substantially pearshaped drainage openings, and a valve diskhaving a central opening loosely surrounding said stem, and extendingover the rim of said bowl with an edge portion concavely contacting therim above the line of contact of the outer bowl surface with said seat.

CARL BERG. MARCUS BERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Sweden Mar. 10, 192%

